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After several months of delay, Home Depot gave her a quote of $4,800 for blackout curtains instead of the blinds she ordered. This would require an extra $3,200 outlay over her $1,585 initial purchase.

The purchase was non-refundable, she was told, but she found nothing written on her contract. She rejected an offer of 20 per cent compensation ($350), or a discount on ready-made drapery she could alter.

“Do I fight keeping for a better resolution?” she asked.

I thought she had a good case. Soon after I sent her email to Home Depot media contact Paul Berto, she got a call offering exactly what she wanted — to remove her blinds and refund her money.

Nancy Sutherland bought Luminette vertical fabric blinds for a large expanse of windows in her home. She paid $4,355 in October 2011.

“When they arrived, they closed incorrectly, in the middle, rather than at the sides. It was their error,” she said.

“Hunter Douglas window fashion products are covered for defects in materials, workmanship or failure to operate for as long as the original retail purchaser owns the product,” it said.

Within three hours of forwarding Sutherland’s email, I got a response from Sue Rainville, marketing director at Hunter Douglas Canada (HDC). She promised a resolution the following day and she delivered.

The company agreed to a full refund as a goodwill measure, since the $3,000 credit wasn’t accepted by the client and there was nothing else that worked in her home.

“I apologize for the unfortunate set of circumstances and for our inability to provide you with a suitable product for your application,” Rainville wrote to Sutherland and me.

“I am sure you both would agree that we collectively, HDC and Night & Day, have kept the dialogue open and attempted at significant costs to both HDC and Night & Day to come to some resolution of the issue.”

On Monday, July 14, an installer will go to her home to remove the blinds and deliver the cheque. That is excellent service.

Many people don’t speak up when their custom-made products don’t work. These cases of high-end blinds show that you can argue successfully for your right to get what you ordered or get your money back.

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